Volunteer Vacation
It sounds like a good idea. Volunteer your time on your vacation. Spend your paid one or two weeks a year to benefit countries that could use the help.
When I looked a little deeper into this program, however, it seemed less enticing to me. It would cost me between $1000 and $1400 to work for this program for a week. I pay one thousand bucks to do volunteer work. The kicker? That cost doesn’t include the price of airfare. I have to arrange for my own travel to Peru or Thailand (or a number of other countries). The $1000 only covers the cost of my meals, accomodations and emergency medical care.
Isn’t there a way for me to volunteer on my vacation where it doesn’t cost me quite so much money? I can go on a real vacation for a week for less than a thousand bucks. I would prefer not to have to pay so much money for the privilege of volunteering my time.
The closest thing I could find is this volunteer search from these organizations:
Most of these volunteer opportunities aren’t for short terms like two weeks, which is a shame. Just in my area alone, there were 114 opportunities to volunteer. Secretarial work and drivers seem to be the most popular in my area. Some of these require a long-term commitment. Somehow, I wish there was a way to donate a couple weeks of my time easily.
I think the best option is to contact a local church or charity organization and find out what they need. Sometimes just showing up and being willing to help is really all they need. Talking to the people in charge usually doesn’t help as much as talking to the people in the trenches. If you really want to volunteer, I suggest just showing up at the place you think is worthy of your time and saying, “You got me for two weeks. What can I do?”